That’s really not it. As mentioned above, even if you subtract WV, MD, DE and DC the South is still first in population. And otherwise the official definition is not arbitrary at all but based on the extent of a historical regional subculture that’s quite real. The South as officially defined is the states of the Confederacy, some of the border/slave states, and OK which didn’t exist then but is indisputably Southern culturally. KY and TN are definitely more Southern than anything else culturally, arguably WV is not a misfit either, MD, DE and DC arguably are misfits. OTOH one might argue FL is no longer very ‘Southern’, but parts of it still are, it used to be as whole, and where else would it be put?
Although TX and VA aren’t extremely similar places (nor were they even in the 1860’s) what would be arbitrary would be considering them parts of different major regions if you still considered PA and ME to be part of the same major region.
I’d say the major reasons the South is the biggest population region are two:
Further back in history, settlement in the then ‘west’ spawned a recognizably different culture and demography (via immigration) in the free states, ie the Midwest became distinct from the Northeast. That wasn’t as true in the slave states, which had a more homogeneous regional culture and demography from VA to TX.
In recent decades, population growth has been faster in the ‘Sun Belt’, although by same token that has somewhat diluted the distinct regional culture of the South.
In my view, climate would be a huge minus. I’ll take my usual dozen or so subzero days each year as long as I don’t have to get above 100 at all. I can live quite nicely without fire ants and alligators. And I’ll gladly get snowed in a few times a decade if it means I have zero risk of hurricanes.
Air conditioning, economic changes, and labor laws. The highest population area used to the midwest. In 1900 the Midwest had 34% of the population. Better farm technology meant fewer people were needed to grow crops. Population started to fall in 1900 and has kept going ever since. Many of the people that left that area went west. Around 1945 the cheap labor and air conditioning started luring businesses to the south and people followed. The Northeast has been losing people since 1930. Around 1970 the population of the south started to jump up and has been growing ever since.
It would be possible to draw a map of the USA with two, thee, four, or ten regions, such that each region had the same population. Then just name the regions according to compass directions and the one you call “south” would have the same population as any other.
Hillbilly woman goes to the hospital and has her third set of twins. The nurse looks at her chart and asks “my goodness! Do you have twins every time?” Hillbilly woman responds, “Heck, no! Most of the time we don’t get nothing!”
Nice, but the state with the highest birth rate per capitais Utah, followed by Alaska, N. Dakota, S. Dakota and Texas. With few exceptions, Northern states have far more people moving out than moving in (Net Domestic Migration).
Seems that, for all your hillbilly jokes, people still tend to move from cold to warm…
I figure it’s because most people’s ancestors took one look at all the snow up here from November to April and wisely decided to give it a pass. I’ve always wanted to know what mine had against Virginia that made them choose New England back in 1633 instead.
I always wondered that too. The original Pilgrims just got slightly lost and started running out of beer (seriously, that was their drinking water) so they had to do something quickly so Cape Cod and then Plymouth, MA were it. They were originally supposed to go to present day Virginia but missed. I think that just set a trend that other people followed but it wasn’t very good strategic planning.
To be fair, my ancestors that I got my last name from landed at the 1st colony at Jamestown and it wasn’t much better. It was warmer but there were some weird climate issues going on at that time. Most of the colony died and the survivors resorted to cannibalism (I have seen the teeth marks on the skulls personally). Many of the rest of them just got butchered by Pocahontas’s relatives or even Spanish raiding parties.
That general time period wasn’t a good time to be on a creaky wooden boat filled with people and livestock only to land in any place on the East Coast with no infrastructure even if you lived through the journey. I don’t know what the cruise ship pamphlets actually said but I am pretty sure they oversold their amenities. Conditions must have been really terrible back in Merry Old England for anyone to try that.
I think 1st you should redefine N S E and W
Because right now those definitions are based on some rather outdated things and some silly political idea
Just cut the country in quarters right down the centers
Ohio is the midwest but is nearly right above florida which is the southeast
Defies logic does it not?
It is probably going to happen at some point. People make fun of Mississippi but parts of it are spectacular. The roots of much modern music comes from Mississippi and has very fertile farmland. It isn’t like the whole state is as poor as many people think. There are lots of very rich people and affluent areas. It is just that it isn’t well distributed. Mississippi could be way better developed than it is based on geography but it just hasn’t been yet.
The same is true for Alabama. It has everything from some of the prettiest beaches in the U.S. to a whole city full of rocket scientists (Huntsville) as well as lots of scenic wilderness but it hasn’t quite jumped the hump yet but I predict that it will.
The scars and legacy from the Civil War still fester in the Deep South and not for the reasons most people assume. It is inevitable that the low cost of living and friendly population will cause the Deep South to become gentrified as well just like it has in northern Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Georgia and parts of Tennessee among others. The general trend is not going away. Most people like cheap, hot and fertile over expensive, cold and sterile no matter what they claim.
Didn’t read all of the answers, so forgive me if I’m repeating, but:
A lot of the Southern states were part of the original 13 colonies - they’ve had centuries longer to build up population.
(South, in the U.S., excludes anything west of Texas. Once you’re into New Mexico you’re firmly into “Southwest.”
A large part of the West is barely habitable desert.
The Midwest / Center of the country is taken up by vast swathes of farmland
The North is cold and miserable. I don’t know how Canadians live. I’m in Denver; our winters have plenty of snow, but I can’t imagine living 1000 miles further North. What are you guys, part seal?
(I’m one of those weirdos who actually likes snow. The colder the better for me)